Whiffletree-connector for traces.



N0. 826,946. PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

, R. J; LAY. WHIFPLETREB CONNECTOR FOR TRAOES.

" APPLICATION FILLED JUNE 30, 1-905.

WITNESSES:

Al/omey UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT JAMES LAY, OF CAIRO, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO BENJAMIN E. SUMMERS, OF CAIRO, WEST VIRGINIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented July 24, 1906.

A Application filed June 30, 1905. Serial No. 26 7,726.

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, ROBERT J AMES LAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cairo, Ritchie county, West Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Whiffietree-Connectors for Traces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to attachments for traces of harness, the object of the present improvement being to provide a very simple, cheap, and effective device that is adapted to be carried by the trace and to engage with the whiffletree to prevent the accidental displacement of one part from the other when placed in engagement and the invention consists of an attachment for traces which is made from a single piece of wire which is shaped to overlie the sides of the trace and engage the edges by inherent spring-pressure, one of the terminals entering an indentation or perforation in the trace, the other terminal being adapted to pass through the eye of the swingle or whifiie tree to hold the trace thereon, as will be hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the invention applied. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, and Fig. 3 a sectional view.

A designates a whiflietree or a swingletree which has near its end an eye a, and the trace has the usual slotted openings 1) b of a size to admit of the passage therethrough of the end of the whiffletree. The outer face of the trace B through one of the thicknesses of the leather has a recess or o ening b to receive one of the terminals of t 1e attachment, and with the exception of the recess in the trace both the trace and the whiffletree are of ordinary construction.

In the make-up of the trace-holder or whifiietree-connector O a single piece of wire is bent to provide diverging members 0 c, which are connected by a curved part c. The piece of wire is also bent to overlie the edges of a trace, as shown at c and c and one of the terminals is bent to provide a part 0 an intermediate bend a directing the wire partially across the trace, the end of such 5 portion being bent to form a loop 0", beyond 1 which the end extends inward to enter a recess in the trace. The member of the wire that forms the upper or front part of the device is bent to provide a part 0 which extends from the part c at an inclination to a point near the opening or eye through the trace, such member then being bent upward and again downward to provide a pin 0 that is adapted to be passed through the eye a of l the whiffletree A.

} If found desirable, the upper portion of 1 the return-bend that includes a part of the pin 0 and a part of the wire that is parallel {therewith may be bent outward to provide a grasping portion a.

The device herein set forth may be readily applied to traces, as it is only required to form in the outer side of the trace a recess for the reception of one end of the wire, and in use the transverse parts of the attachment will embrace the edges of the trace and assist in holding the attachment in place. The device when applied locates the converging members a c on the inner side of the eye I), and on the opposite side of the trace is the pin 0 and the other terminal of the wire. This device provides means for connecting the trace to the whifiietree and means for holding the end of the trace strai ht and stifi, so that the trace can be readily attached to the whiiiletree.

I claim 1. A trace attachment consisting of a piece of wire that is bent to provide converging members to lie over one side of a portion of a trace, continuations of such members which span the edges of the trace, a terminal portion being shaped to engage the eye of a whifiietree when passed through the eye of the trace, the other terminal entering a recess in the trace, substantially as shown.

2. A trace attachment made from a continuous piece of spring-wire that is bent to provide diverging bars, cross portions that embrace the edges of a trace, a spring-depressed member having an upward-extending portion and parallel therewith a pin, a member that extends from the other cross portion such member being bent to form a trace, the bent portion 0 being beyond the i loop that limits the upward movement of the I my hand in the presence of two-subscribing pin-carrying member, the part beyond the Witnesses. loop being substantially at right angles to the barwh'ichterminates inthe pin that enters 1 ROBERT JAMES 5 the eye of the Whifiletree, substantially as set Witnesses: forth. G. M. CAIN,

In testimony whereof I have'hereunto seb l A; 'D. GATON: 

